Lesson 121- Police officers work hard to keep us safe, so always be respectful and kind when you see one.

“Explain.” Torin demands. Damien just glares at him and I sigh.
“Dami, could you please tell us what happened? For starters, are you okay?” I ask politely, pointedly staring at Torin who still seems unimpressed.
“Well, it was earlier today. A couple guys were sort of hovering around out the front of my place. At first I really didn’t think anything of it, I didn’t really recognise them and they could have just been passing by, but I remembered you saying that you thought someone might be after you and they seemed kinda creepy. So I was a little extra cautious. I cracked open a window to see if I could hear what they were saying and… Rina, they mentioned dad’s name.” I can hear the anger in Damien’s voice.
“You… You think dad’s involved in this somehow?” I ask, my voice small. Damien gives a half shrug, half nod.
“What I think is that there is no reason at all why someone would be after you, but if dad is involved… Well that makes more sense.” He says sadly. I’m about to answer when Torin interrupts.
“I don’t understand. I thought that your father was dead. You told me he passed years ago.” Torin comments, confused. I’m also confused for a moment until I figure it out.
“Oooh, no. I told you that he left us years ago. I never meant that he died. I mean he literally left us. The day Dami turned eighteen he walked out on us and never came back.” I explain.
“He might as well be dead. He’s dead to us at least.” Damien grumbles under his breath. Torin looks mildly horrified, although I doubt that Damien can tell.
“I… Didn’t realise.” Torin says apologetically. I pat his arm reassuringly.
“Don’t worry about it. I wasn’t clear.” I tell him, then I turn back to Damien.
“I don’t understand what dad could possibly have to do with me now. We haven’t spoken since the day he left. That was over ten years ago!” I point out. He takes a moment to answer, his eyes are caught on where my hand rests on Torin’s arm.
“Yeah, I know. But if anyone was going to bring trouble down on us… It would make sense if it was him.” Damien answers, but there’s something odd in his expression. He looks almost… Guilty?
“Damien… What aren’t you telling me?” I ask, suspiciously. He drops his gaze to stare at his fingers.
“I saw dad. I spoke to him. About three months ago.” He admits. I stare at him, jaw dropped open. It isn’t until Torin shifts under my grip that I realise I’m digging my fingers into his arm. I force myself to loosen my grip. I go to pull my hand away, but Torin just catches it in his and lightly squeezes it. I take a couple deep breaths to calm myself.
“Damien, why would you be talking to dad?” I demand. He holds up his hands defensively.
“It wasn’t on purpose or anything. I was out at a bar with a couple of friends. He was there. I almost didn’t recognise him at first. He looked so… Old. He came up and spoke to me. He was being all strangely friendly, which made no sense. But then he asked me for money. A hundred bucks. He said it was to ‘cover his tab’ but I refused. He kept hanging around and wouldn’t leave. He… He started asking questions about you. If you were doing well, if you were married yet, if you had kids. I didn’t answer anything. I didn’t want him coming to look for you or ask you for money either. I… I gave him the cash he wanted. A hundred bucks and then told him to get lost. Then he left.” He says simply. I frown.
“Why wouldn’t you tell me about that?” I ask. Damien sighs and runs a hand through his hair.
“I don’t know Rina. I just didn’t want to upset you. I didn’t see any reason why you would need to know. It’s not like he had any idea where you were. It was bad enough that I had to deal with him, and… I know that he always treated you badly. Worse than he did me.” Damien adds softly. I just shrug. He’s right. Dad always treated me badly. Damien was the only one to ever look after me. It was like dad wanted me out of the way unless it was to do something for him. I always thought it was because I reminded him of mum. He wasn’t exactly good to Damien, but he usually didn’t ignore him at least, not the way he did me. It sucked, but I never knew any different. Besides, I’ve always had Damien. He looked after me and loved me. He did more for me than any brother should have to. So what did I need a father for anyway? I sigh and nod, accepting his answer.
“You’ve always tried to look after me. I know you just did what you thought was right. Still, it is definitely weird that dad would be asking about me. You’re right that it’s suspicious.” I agree with a frown.
“Tell me his name.” Torin suddenly requests.
“Huh? Why?” I question. Torin shrugs.
“We can get someone to ask around a bit. Maybe… Elijah.” He says reluctantly. I raise an eyebrow.
“Eli? Why him?” I ask, totally baffled. Torin frowns.
“You don’t know what he does for a living? He’s a cop.” Torin says flatly. My eyebrows fly up.
“Eli. A cop. Are you serious? I never saw that coming. Why haven’t we asked him for help earlier?” I question. Tori shrugs.
“We didn’t really have anything to go on. There was no point in forcing ourselves to ask a favour from… Him.” Torin sounds disgusted. But I don’t miss the fact that he actually knows more about Eli than I do. Apparently he DOES listen when Eli is chatting away in his ear.
“Who is Eli?” Damien asks.

Before any of us can answer, the front door of the bar swings open, and his ears must have been burning because Eli comes swaggering in. He seems confused when he realises that there is no one else in the bar.
“That’s Eli.” I answer cheerfully.
“How did you get in here?” Torin demands. Eli shrugs.
“Door was unlocked. I just opened it.” He answers casually, dropping into the remaining empty seat at the table. Torin swears and gets up to lock it. Apparently he forgot to lock it when he went to invite Damien inside. Unsurprising, he’s kind of stressed after all.
“And who is this?” Eli asks, watching Damien with a curious expression. Damien holds out his hand to Eli for him to shake.
“Damien Akari.” He introduces himself. Eli looks momentarily taken aback. A smirk crosses his face and he’s about to take Damien’s hand when I cough loudly and kick Eli under the table, making him yelp in shock. I jump to my feet.
“Eli, we need more drinks. Why don’t you come and help me with that?” I say in a rush. Eli frowns, turning back to glance at Damien.
“Eli, help me. Now.” I insist. He rolls his eyes and gets to his feet.
“Alright, alright.” He agrees, getting to his feet. He follows me to the bar where Kyle, Laura and Catcher are doing unnecessary cleaning while they try to eavesdrop. I whirl to face Eli.
“Don’t you DARE use magic on my big brother!” I hiss at him. Eli raises an eyebrow.
“That guy is your brother?” He turns back to look at him and I yank him back around.
“Yes, and he’s human. Totally human. He doesn’t know about any of this.” I inform him. Eli’s eyes go wide.
“What? Then what is he doing HERE?” He demands.
“He came looking for me, obviously.” I point out.
“Right, right. So…” He pauses, not sure what to do.
“No magic, no talking about magic. Don’t even think about magic. Also if he asks, I choose to stay here. I came to stay with Tori because I know someone is after me. He didn’t force me to be here. Alright?” I say firmly. Eli nods his agreement but he doesn’t seem thrilled about it.
“I understand.” He agrees.
“Thanks.” I let out a sigh of relief. Hopefully, for once, Eli can keep his mouth shut.